‘Blacklist’ Renewed for Season 7 at NBC

The Blacklist was renewed for a seventh season at NBC, the network announced Monday.

When the show was renewed for a sixth season in May 2018, star James Spader negotiated a deal that added a seventh season, reports Deadline. However, it took series producer Sony Pictures Television a few more months to get a new deal for Megan Boone, who was only signed through Season 6. Diego Klatenhoff and Harry Lennix also signed on for Season 7.

The Blacklist started out as a huge hit in 2013 when it aired after The Voice, but aside from a one-night pop after the Super Bowl in Season 2, the show never retained its audience when it moved to Thursdays. During its run, NBC has aired the show on four different days in five different time slots. This season, the show was bumped to Fridays at 9 p.m.

Despite being on what is usually a low-rated night, The Blacklist is still doing well, especially when DVR viewing is included. It is averaging 7.3 million viewer and a 1.2 rating in the 18-49 demographic in Live+7 Nielsen ratings. By comparison, the show only averages 3.4 million viewers and a 0.57 key demo rating live. That is a 119 percent jump in the demographic.

NBC also pointed out that The Blacklist is the top-rated drama among the four major networks for adults 18-49 living in homes with $100,000+ incomes.

“Congratulations to our amazing producers, cast and crew, all of whom continue to work at the top of their game and make The Blacklist one of NBC’s signature series,” Lisa Katz and Tracey Pakosta, Co-Presidents of Scripted Programming, NBC Entertainment, said in a statement.

The Blacklist was created by Jon Bokenkamp, who is an executive producer along with John Davis, John Eisendrath, John Fox, Joe Carnahan and Spader. It inspired the spin-off The Blacklist: Redemption, which lasted one season in 2017.

Spader earned back-to-back Golden Globe nominations in 2014 and 2015 for playing Raymond “Red” Reddington, a master criminal who becomes an informant for the FBI by helping them catch other names on the most-wanted list.

Boone co-stars as Elizabeth Keen, a special agent who later discovers she is Red’s daughter. Klattenhoff stars as FBI special agent Donald Ressler, and Lennix plays Harold Cooper, the Assistant Director of the FBI Counterterrorism Division. Amir Arison and Hisham Tawfiq also star.

Although there is still a few more weeks left of the 2018-2019 TV season, NBC has already been busy renewing shows for 2019-2020. Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, Chicago P.D. and freshman drama New Amsterdam were already renewed.

NBC also renewed the sitcoms Superstore, The Good Place, Will & Grace and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

The Blacklist airs Fridays at 9 p.m. ET.

Photo credit: Craig Blankenhorn/NBC